


Pretence

by cathcer1984



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anal Sex, Dirty Talk, Discussion of Abortion, Drunk Sex, F/M, Gay Sex, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Not Epilogue Compliant, Pregnant Draco Malfoy, Pregnant Sex, botched abortion (to minor character)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 03:27:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13627635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathcer1984/pseuds/cathcer1984
Summary: Harry tries to pretend it isn’t his fault.





	Pretence

**Author's Note:**

> Beta’d by the lovely S, any remaining mistakes are my own. A huge thank you to M for all her help and ideas, as always.  
> I loved this prompt. It gave me a lot of room to play with the back story and I hope you like what I’ve done with this.  
> I feel like I should explain that everything in italics is not in chronological order, they are just events that have happened. 
> 
> Written for HarryDracoMpreg prompt: Harry was supposed to get married in three days then Malfoy showed up, and that was definitely a growth of some kind under his robes, it wriggled with movement and everything! Harry thought he wanted kids after marriage, but now he was having a child--with Malfoy--and he had to find a way to break the news to Ginny and her family.

_His hand clenched around the handle of his wand as he levitated his trunk beside him._

_“So that’s it?”_

_Harry nods. Not looking at Draco, “I’m twenty-five years old, Draco. I can’t put my dreams on hold. I want a family. I want kids and a white picket fence.”_

_“And a wife?” Draco asks quietly._

_“If that’s what it takes.”_

_Draco swallows heavily and Harry turns towards the door to their flat and pretends he isn’t waiting for Draco to call him, pretends he isn’t hesitating._

_But Draco doesn’t say anything, doesn’t stop him, doesn’t fight for him._

_Harry leaves and doesn’t look back, even though his heart is breaking. His mind is shouting ‘turn back,’ but he doesn’t. He lets the tears blur his eyes as he walks away from the love of his life, to fulfil his ideal family, the family he never got to be a part of._

_As he walks away from Draco, he pretends not to hear the shatter of something as it hits the wall, he pretends not to hear Draco’s sobs. Harry pretends it’s not his fault._

###

 

The knock at the door came as a surprise and Harry, who had just settled down to a beer and curry, heaved a sigh before heading to the front door. When he opened it, Harry froze.

“What are you doing here?” He whispered frantically, glancing around outside to see if anyone was watching, but Grimmauld Place was quiet and empty.

Draco gazed at Harry with steely eyes. “I think you should let me in.”

“Why? Give me one good reason,” Harry demanded, his heart pounding in his chest.

He knew something drastic was going to happen when Draco shifted and opened his heavy winter cloak, despite it being the height of summer, and Harry stared. Draco’s thin, toned stomach had swollen and his caustic voice drawled, “That’s your kid, Potter.”

Wordlessly, Harry stood aside and let Draco in. As soon as the door was closed, Draco threw off his winter cloak and made his way into the room Harry had just left. Taking his time, Harry put the cloak on the peg and from the fabric, breathed in the musky scent of Draco. He stood in the doorway and watched as Draco ate Harry’s dinner.

Harry moved through the room slowly and sank down on the sofa next to Draco, wondering how this had even happened. He was getting married to Ginny in three days. He had left Draco, had walked away from him because Draco couldn’t give him what he wanted most: children.

So Harry had gone back to Ginny after two years with Draco and now- “Why are you here, Draco?”

“You remember six months ago?”

Harry inclined his head, not willing to admit that he spent a great deal of time thinking about that night. Six months ago, Harry had had a huge fight with Ginny and stormed out. He’d gone to his and Draco’s local pub in Devon. Draco had been there and Harry had jealously watched him until he’d gotten so drunk and so angry, that he tried to pick a fight. Draco had taken him home and in the morning, Harry had fucked him.

Then he left, and he waited until he was in the shower before breaking down and crying. That was going to be the last time he saw Draco and Harry hadn’t allowed himself to think of that night; he had to focus on making it work with Ginny.

“Well, I started to get sick. Nothing serious, I didn’t think about it until it kept going on and on. Then I went to the healer and, what would you know, I’m pregnant. With your sprog. Well done, Potter. You certainly made your life easy.” Draco’s sarcasm is a welcome comfort. He had been too polite before for Harry to be able to take him seriously. “I mean, look at the irony. You leave me for a woman so you can have kids. Then you knock me up anyway.” Draco forces a laugh that makes Harry close his eyes.

“How do you know it’s mine?” He asks scathingly.

“Have you managed to get it up for her? Or is she still a virgin?”

“Fucking hell, Draco! What do you want?” Harry almost shouts. He’s angry with himself for letting his life get so out of control, angry with Draco for getting pregnant, and angry with Ginny for waiting for him, even when he was with Draco.

Draco puts the empty plate on the coffee table and stands. “I only thought you ought to know. It’s the right thing to do, Gryffindor behaviour, something you’d appreciate and understand. You have no obligations.”

Harry follows Draco into the hallway and pushes him roughly into the wall. “The fuck I have no obligations! You came here knowing exactly what I’d do; you came here knowing that I would choose you and our kid over her. Fuck, Draco if you’d fought for me, I would have chosen you.”

Leaning forward, Harry captures Draco’s lips in a fierce kiss and feels the other man melt into his embrace, and then there’s a small push against his stomach and Harry pulls away, looking down.

“He’s kicking.”

“He?”

Draco shrugs, “I don’t know, but after he started moving, calling him ‘it’ didn’t seem nice.”

Closing his eyes, Harry sinks to his knees and pushes Draco’s shirt upwards so he can press kisses to his belly. Letting his lips land on the web of stretch marks and pale skin, letting the tears burn his eyes as he makes his choice.

A hand slides into his hair and Draco holds Harry’s head against his belly, letting him feel their child inside.

###

 

_With a groan, Harry rolls over in the unfamiliar bed, clenching his eyes shut against the weak sunlight. He reaches over for his wand, but encounters a body instead. Harry blearily blinks his eyes open and sees that he’s on the left side of the bed, not the right, and that someone is in bed with him._

_The pale blond hair is a give-away and Harry feels his chest aching with longing and he rolls over, watching Draco’s back and shoulders. The tense line indicates that he’s awake, holding himself stiffly. Harry moves closer reaching out a hand to trace the edge of his hairline._

_A breathy sigh is all Harry needs before he’s pressing himself to Draco’s back, kissing his neck and sliding a hand down to Draco’s hips, pushing his pyjama bottoms down. The way Draco arched back against him has Harry pulling his half-hard cock out of his boxers and sliding a dry finger into Draco._

_It’s enough for Draco reach out for his wand and slick Harry’s hand with a spell. He stretches Draco quickly before he’s sliding in and fucking him hard. Harry doesn’t hold back, and neither does Draco as he clenches around Harry, fucking back against him._

_It’s rough and quick and messy and Harry loves it. He’s missed this, missed Draco. It’s been too long; a year without seeing him, kissing him, holding him and Harry knows that he’s made the wrong choice. He shouldn’t have left this man for the idea of children._

_When he comes, he decides that he’s going to stay. Harry will come back to Draco, will live their lives together, and talk about adopting. He’ll hurt Ginny, but it will be worth it._

_Draco comes with Harry’s name on his lips and then he’s out of the bed and staring at the wall. “I’m going to shower; you won’t be here when I get out. Go back to your wife.”_

_“She’s not my wife.”_

_“Yet.” Draco bites out, hurt, and Harry watches his naked back as he leaves. He flops back onto the pillows trying to pretend his heart isn’t breaking, again, trying to pretend that he doesn’t still love Draco. Trying to pretend that it still isn’t his fault._

###

 

The Burrow was Harry’s second home after Hogwarts, but he’d never felt so uncomfortable as he sat at the kitchen table waiting for Ginny to come downstairs, while Molly made a cup of tea and breakfast.

“Hello,” Ginny smiled as she moved into the kitchen. Instantly Harry felt better. She made him feel relaxed and he wrapped his arms around her waist, breathing in her flowery scent. “Did Mum tell you I got the bouquets?”

“No,” Harry swallowed heavily and gazed guiltily at her feet.

“Yep, they look beautiful. They’re under cooling charms in the shed, but I can show you if you want?”

Nodding, Harry let her take his hand as they made their way out the kitchen. This was the perfect time to tell her. They were alone and he could explain and let her down gently. He tugged on her hand to stop her just before she opened the shed door. Ginny turned with a smile and put her free arm around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.

Harry turned his head and pulled away, putting a distance between them. “Gin.”

“What is it?” She bit her lip, “Harry, you’re worrying me.”

“I - I can’t do this anymore.”

She was still smiling, in a confused way. “I don’t understand.”

“Draco’s pregnant.”

Instantly, her face hardened, “So. He gets himself knocked up and comes running to you, and you what? Go back to him? You dump me three days before our wedding? For some kid?”

“It’s mine.”

“No, it’s not.”

Harry smiled sadly at her denial. “You remember our fight, a few months ago? I left and got pissed, and Draco was there and I - I fucked him.”

Ginny was pulling away, her face a picture of disgust. “You cheated on me? With him?” Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. “And now he’s having your -”

“Baby. Yes.” Harry reached for her, but she flinched away from his touch. He sighed and said, “I have to do what’s right.”

“If you’d known, eighteen months ago, that he could have kids, would you have left him?” Ginny asks, her face pale and her eyes burning with fury. “Would you!?” She shouts.

“No.”

She half chokes on a sob and flings the shed door open. She reaches inside and pulls out a beautiful bouquet of roses and Harry tentatively starts to smile before she’s hitting him. The flowers are breaking all over him, the thorns piercing his flesh, and she’s shouting at him, screaming, and Harry is stumbling away. Molly comes out of the house, wand out, and Harry runs for the boundary.

As he Apparates away, he sees Ginny collapse in tears in her mother’s arms and Molly’s concerned face is like a punch to the stomach. Landing on the doorstep of Grimmauld Place, Harry pants heavily before heading inside. He goes straight to the kitchen for a glass of water and is surprised when he sees Draco sitting at the table with a cup of tea in front of him.

For a moment they stare at each other, and then Draco’s face takes on an impassive blank look before saying blandly, “You have rose petals in your hair.”

“I’m not surprised. I got beaten with a bouquet.”

“Really? Why?”

“I broke up with her.”

“Why’d you go and do that?” Draco’s voice was still as toneless as his blank face.

Taken aback, Harry stuttered, “I - I thought- now that you’re - we could-”

“You think I’d take you back just because I’m having your kid? You should have stayed with her, Potter.”

“I only got with her because I didn’t think we could ever have a family. I thought she could give it to me, when you couldn’t.” Harry ran a hand through his hair and more petals fell down. “If I’d known back then that you could have- that we could have been a proper family, I would have never left. I would have stayed.”

“But you didn’t.” Draco stands, his stomach softening the harsh lines of his body. And that is the crux of the matter. You didn’t even ask.”

“Why should it even occur to me, Draco? Where I come from, men can’t carry children. Even with magic, I didn’t think it possible. You could have told me!”

“What did you think we were using protective charms for?”

“They were contraceptive charms? I thought they were for diseases and such,” Harry said and Draco’s demeanour changed immediately as he started to laugh.  
“I’m sorry,” Draco said, after he had stopped laughing and glanced at Harry’s affronted expression. “I thought you knew that they were contraceptives. There are no charms for protect against muggle sexual diseases. Wizards and Witches have to use potions.”

“Oh.” Harry rubbed at his face after sinking down opposite Draco. He gazed at the other man seriously, until Draco shifted uncomfortably. “You really won’t be with me?”

“No. Not just for the sake of our kid.”

Smiling sadly, Harry whispers, “You must know, surely you must, that I love you. I was a fool.”

“A fool that broke my heart and my trust.” Draco looked away, “I can’t just ignore that, Harry, and I can’t just take you back. How do I know you won’t leave again at the idea of something better?”

Harry had no answer, and he silently left the table, wishing he hadn’t made the mistake in the first place. At the same time, however, he hid his smile at the fact that Draco had called him ‘Harry’ for the first time since he’d been there.

###

_Azkaban was cold. Desolate. Terrifying._

_Harry took a fortifying breath and strode passed the guards, glad that the Dementors were no longer the wardens, though it had little effect on the empty, alone feeling that the place gave._

_He sat down at a cold metal table, in a stone chamber that was situated less than ten feet inside the prison. Harry was left waiting ten minutes until the door opened, and in walked Lucius Malfoy._

_Imprisonment had been unkind to him. His hair was lank and dark with dirt, his face was hollow and gaunt, but he had retained his proud, superior look._

_“I cannot begin to think what this could be for, Mister Potter. Please enlighten me.” His voice was husky from disuse or screaming, Harry wasn’t sure._

_“It didn’t occur to you that your wife or son might be injured?”_

_For a brief, horrible moment Harry felt a vindictive satisfaction as the smug look slid from Lucius’ face and a shocked one replaced it. “They are fine.” Harry said, “I came to ask for your permission.”_

_“Permission?”_

_“To marry Draco.”_

_Lucius leant forward in his seat and smiled slowly; he seemed to take great pleasure in his next word. “No.”_

###

 

It had been about a month since Draco had come to Harry and, for reasons Harry didn't know, Draco was staying with him at Grimmauld Place. Harry didn't mind; he liked the company, especially since he'd been given the cold shoulder from all the Weasleys and Hermione who, not wanting to choose between her fiancée and her best friend, had stayed quiet.

Ron had come storming into Grimmauld on the day that Harry had left Ginny. Draco had been tending the wounds caused by the thorns and he had barely looked up when Ron entered. Taking one look at the scene, Ron had yanked Harry away from Draco and punched him hard on the jaw. Then he had pointed a finger at Draco and said slowly, "The only reason I'm not dirtying my hands with your blood is because of that!" Pointing to Draco's pregnant belly, he then spat at the ground by Draco's feet before leaving as suddenly as he had come.

Draco took one look at Harry lying on the ground and pursed his lips. "I'll get some ice." And they hadn't spoken of it since. They hadn't spoken of much at all. Draco tended to ignore Harry when he came home from the Aurors, unless he was injured, and then calmly, silently, Draco would tend his wounds. Harry had never felt lonelier, his friends weren't talking to him, the only family he had known was shunning him and he didn't blame them. But the one person whom Harry wanted to speak with, to laugh with, was occupying the same space as him, but they weren't living together. Not like they had before.

At night Harry had taken to sitting in the old drawing room upstairs, avoiding Draco whilst also watching two branches growing out from the 'Draco Malfoy' embroidered there. One would hold his name, and one the name of their child once it was born. Reaching up a finger, Harry traced the tentative branch that represented his child.

The door flung open and he jumped away, flushing guiltily at being caught. Draco's eyes darted to the side and they narrowed slightly before he looked at Harry, "I have an appointment at Saint Mungo's tomorrow. They will be checking the baby. It's at nine-thirty in the morning, if you want to come."

"I'll be there," Harry said instantly, before Draco had actually finished talking. "I'll be there," he repeated more slowly. "Will we leave straight from here?"

"You go to work at seven."

"I can come here and go with you or meet you at Saint Mungo's if you prefer."

"We can meet there; it will be easier for you." Draco turned and looked back over his shoulder at Harry. "Thank you."

"Whatever for?"

There was a sadness to the smile that played around Draco's mouth. "For taking an interest."

"It's my child Draco, why wouldn't I be interested?"

"Greater men than you, Potter, have walked away when someone so lowly has claimed to be pregnant, with little or no proof."

Harry looked into Draco's eyes then closed his own in regret. "Pansy," he whispered.

"Pansy," Draco agreed before leaving. Harry turned to look at the tapestry, this time searching for Parkinson. He found it and his fingertips traced the dates underneath Pansy Parkinson's name. Born first of March nineteen-eighty, died fourth of May two thousand and three, about three years ago. She had been killed when a secretive attempt at an abortion had failed.

The father of the baby was unknown to anybody but Draco and Harry; she’d come to Draco, in tears saying, “He lied. Gawain lied, he threw me out!”

Harry had left the room then, uncomfortable with her tears and the behaviour of his boss. She’d left soon after and Draco had sought out Harry. They’d made love slowly and tenderly, with Harry reassuring Draco that he loved him, would never leave him. At that moment in time, it wasn’t a lie.

Then, the following day at work, Harry had been called out to investigate a girl on the street, immediately recognising her as Pansy. He had covered her and brought her body to the Ministry’s pathology lab himself, instead of leaving it to the junior Aurors. He had told Robards that he was taking a week off, and when the autopsy was finished, the result would be an accidental death, not her fault. Pansy Parkinson’s body would be released into his care so that he could bury her properly. When Robards started to argue, Harry had slammed his hand onto his superior’s desk and threatened him.

“I will talk. You say one word, one ill-advised word about her, then I will tell the world. You got her pregnant, you threw her out, and in a fit of shame and desperation she went to a butcher and got killed. Pansy’s blood is on your hands, Sir and I hope you don’t forget that.”

Shaking his head, Harry pulled himself back into the present and decided to head to bed. In the morning he would go to work and then meet Draco at Saint Mungo’s. As he walked down the hallway, an idea came to him and Harry knocked lightly on Draco’s door.

When it opened, he stared, shamelessly. Draco was shirtless and for the first time Harry got to see the full effect pregnancy had on Draco’s body. His belly protruded, but it didn’t look out of place, he was still thin, his hip bones were still visible, and his nipples were darker. Licking his lips, Harry dragged his eyes up to Draco’s face catching the loneliness and hunger there.

“I thought,” he coughed, “I thought about a name. James if it’s a boy, you know after my dad. And if- If it’s a girl, Pansy.”

Draco’s eyes became bright with tears, “Do you mean it?”

“Yes. She died unnecessarily and Robards was never punished for it, but that’s not the point. She was your best friend, she loved you and you loved her. We should honour that-” Harry was cut off by Draco throwing his arms around Harry’s neck and kissing him.

Immediately Harry kissed back, pushing his tongue into Draco’s mouth and pressing as close to the blond as his pregnant belly would allow. He licked at the roof of Draco’s mouth, sliding over his teeth, and sucked on his tongue before letting Draco explore his mouth.

Harry pulled away to breathe, then he dove right back in, his mouth working with Draco’s, as he walked Draco backwards and pushed him down onto the bed. Draco scrambled backwards onto the pillows, his legs open and his cock hard, curving along the side of his belly. Harry shed his clothes quickly before kneeling between Draco’s legs and pulling his trousers off.

When Draco was as naked as him, Harry leant up and pressed soft kisses to his thighs, belly, chest, and lips whispering between each one, “Draco. My beautiful Draco.” Harry reached over to the bedside table for Draco’s wand, whispering a lubrication charm before he slid his finger down the crack between Draco's arse cheeks, pausing to press lightly against his hole. Draco bucked against him, whimpering, reaching down to grab his knees and urging them apart, holding himself open for Harry's gaze and fingers.

Sliding a slick finger inside, Harry let out a moan at the thought of having that heat around his cock again. He quickly added in a second finger and pumped it while Draco rocked against him saying, "Please, Harry. Please, more. I need-"

"I know," Harry mumbled, leaning down to kiss Draco's neck. "I need you too."

He quickly added in a third finger, relishing in the tightness around his fingers, until Draco was almost sobbing with need. Harry pulled his hand free, lubricated his cock quickly, and rested the head against Draco's wet and open hole.  
"Harry-"

"Did you miss this?" Harry asked, his voice low and growling. "Did you miss me filling you with my cock? Sinking slowly into you, stretching you wide, coating your insides with my seed." Pushing in, Harry started to fuck Draco slowly, keeping up his continuous stream of talk into Draco's damp hair. "Did you like me getting you with child? I did. Knowing that I did this to you, got you pregnant with my child. I can't wait until you're even bigger, ready to burst, and still begging for my cock to fill you up.

"I want to hear you scream my name." Harry rested his weight on his elbows, holding himself above Draco's belly, letting his hips thrust harshly in and out of his lover until they were panting and Harry could barely speak, "Come. For me. Draco. Draco. Draco." He chanted, dipping his head to mouth at Draco's nipples, and he relished in the tightening of Draco's channel around his cock and the way he screamed out Harry's name.

After two more thrusts Harry was coming too, still chanting Draco's name reverently over and over. Draco panted harshly and ran a hand through Harry’s hair before curling on his side and pulling Harry behind him. Harry moved so his arm was cupping Draco’s belly and he could feel their child moving within.

Harry whispered, “I’m in love with you.”

A soft snore was his only answer.

###

 

_They stared at each other, chests heaving and brushing as they breathed in deeply. Since they’d come back to Draco’s flat, everything was quiet. The noise from the Ministry party was gone, the laughter and clinking of glasses had faded into silence with the pop of their Apparation._

_Harry had been desperately kissing Draco, thinking that he was losing his mind but needed these kisses after months of circling around each other at work. Harry had a case that needed a consultant from the DMLE law sub-division, and he and Draco had been forced to work together._

_Now they were finally at the turning point, after flirting and dancing around each other, Harry could step in and kiss Draco and take this further, or he could step away make his excuses and leave._

_But then, Harry thinks as he reaches up with a gentle hand and traces over the curve of Draco’s cheekbone, he would never have this beautiful man again. He slides his hand to cup the back of Draco’s neck and leans in to kiss him gently, pulling away to kiss down his neck, whispering “Draco. Beautiful. Draco.”_

###

 

With a grin on his face, Harry turned to Draco and said, “Let’s get some tea.”

“Don’t you have to go back to work?”

Awkwardly, Harry rubbed a hand up and down his neck. “I, uh, I took the morning off.”

“The whole morning?” Draco raised an eyebrow, “My, what will you do with yourself?”

“Spend time with you,” Harry says sincerely, looking at Draco from under his fringe. Judging by the way his pale cheeks go pink, Harry knows he’s made Draco uncomfortable, but he doesn’t care.

Draco looks away and licks his lips. “We can go to the Leaky Cauldron.” It wasn’t far away and after the Healer’s comment about being careful with Apparition and Floo Harry didn’t want to risk anything, so he suggested they have a stroll through London. Draco made no comment, but started to walk.

It was easy to avoid getting noticed by muggles with a slight Notice-Me-Not charm, and so they walked slowly side by side, not talking. Harry’s mind raced with a single question. Did Draco regret last night? He’d been up early and Draco was still sleeping when he had left for work, but Harry had pressed a kiss to his head and had a spring in his step when he got to the Auror offices.

Entering his cubicle, he glared at Jones who had sniggered, “Someone got laid last night.” Harry almost groaned when Ron shoved by with more force than necessary, a sneer making his face ugly, ignoring Harry’s attempts to talk to him.

He shook his head to dispel the thoughts, trying to block out the hurt he felt every time he saw his best friend shunning him. Even if Ron did look at him, it was with such hate, that Harry had to find an excuse to leave the room, hoping that Ron’s behaviour wasn’t indicative of all the Weasleys. However, he had little hope they would be happy to see him at all.

A light touch to his arm made him jump and he almost bumped into Draco, who eyed him warily. “We’re here.”

“Right. Course.” Harry looked up at the faded sign and then at Draco. “Come on, let’s get a cup of tea.”

Inside, Draco sat down and Harry asked Tom for a tea service, paid, then joined Draco. They sat in silence until Tom brought the cups, milk and steaming teapot over. “Thanks Tom,” Harry said, watched him go back to the bar before turning to Draco. “Can I ask you a personal question? Well, two actually. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Alright.”

“Why don’t you want to know the sex?”

Draco shrugged. “I think that would make it too real and I can’t face that yet. Your other question?” He asked quickly, not letting Harry respond.

“What did it feel like, the first time you heard the heartbeat?”

A beatific smile lit up Draco’s face and he leaned in to Harry to whisper, the embarrassed flush back on his cheeks, “It felt like magic.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought, too.”

They grinned inanely at each other for a moment then Harry poured the tea to distract himself from his thoughts of kissing Draco, something he didn’t want to do in public in case there was someone from The Prophet lurking about. He didn’t want to make things worse for himself or for Draco, or make it look like he was rubbing salt in the Weasleys’ wounds.

Harry settled for reaching out and stroking Draco’s cheek. The Floo flared in the background, but he took no notice, not when Draco was looking at him as if he’d hung the moon. The way he used to look at Harry, when they were happy.

“How dare you!” Came a hissed voice, and Harry looked around to see Molly standing not far from their table, glaring at him and ignoring Draco. Dropping his hand from Draco’s cheek, Harry started to stand, but Molly said, “Don’t you dare come near me. Not after what you did. How could you? I thought you were a good man Harry Potter.”

Swallowing, Harry tried to ignore the disappointment in Molly’s voice. He could see the way Draco had schooled his face into an impassive expression and the way he had turned away, that he was expecting Harry to ignore him as well. “I’m sorry. I am but it’s my child. I can’t abandon my child. I won’t do that.”

Molly settled her eyes on Draco and he glared back, uncowed, as she said “Neither will I.” Draco inclined his head, but didn’t lower his eyes, Harry found the move to be mocking and obviously Molly felt the same for she narrowed her eyes and said, “And you! Don’t get me started on what you’ve done!”

“This is not the place for this conversation, Molly,” Arthur said quietly, moving forward and taking a hold of her arm, but she shrugged him off.

Angrily, Draco stood and allowed his robes to flare open, emphasising his pregnant belly. Molly’s eyes darted down, but they moved quickly back up to Draco’s face when he started to speak.  
“I have done nothing wrong. I loved this man and he left me, and I didn’t know-” He swallowed heavily and Harry stared; he was learning more through Draco’s conversation with Molly than Draco would ever willingly tell him. “What was I to do when I saw him drunk and barely able to stand? Should I have left him to sleep in the gutter? I did the right thing bringing him home and giving him a bed to sleep in and a cure for his hangover and then-”

“Then you had sex with him! While he was engaged.” The ‘to my daughter’ was left unsaid.

“Molly, I initiated it,” Harry said quietly. He, too, stood. “I’m sorry Molly. I made a mistake, quite a few in fact, the worst being leaving Draco and leading Ginny on. I do love her, I do just not as a man should love the woman he wishes to marry.”

She turned her head away for a moment, to hide her disgust or disappointment, Harry wasn’t sure, and then she looked at Harry. “I protect my own, Harry, you know this.” He nodded, thinking of how formidable she was when she faced Bellatrix. “I do not know if I can forgive you for what you did to us, to Ginny, but I do not wish to lose you as a son. I lost Fred, and I can’t afford to lose another son.”

Surprisingly, she moved to pull Harry into a hug and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You are both welcome at the Burrow. Even for Sunday lunches.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think that would be a good idea just yet. I need to give everyone time to calm down, and then I need to talk to Ginny and to Ron.”

“Of course.” Molly smiled broadly at Harry’s tentative attempt, “We’ll see you soon. And you,” she said to Draco, who took on a mildly defensive stance - legs apart, hand on the handle of his wand – “That’s my first grandchild you’re carrying, so you look after yourself, and if you need someone to talk to, some advice, you can ask me.” She hesitated and then added, “I know your mother would have loved to see you go through something she once experienced. I am sorry that you can’t share this joy with her.”

“Thank you,” Draco said, his voice tight with emotion and Harry reached across the table to take hold of his hand. Molly nodded and turned to leave. Arthur smiled at her then at Harry and Draco.

“Congratulations, both of you.” He said mildly, before leaving hand in hand with Molly.

“You know,” Draco said thoughtfully, “After six months, that’s the first time I’ve been congratulated. By Arthur Weasley. Father would be spinning in his grave.”

Harry grinned. “At a Weasley congratulating you? Not getting knocked up by a Potter.”

Draco didn’t answer, but the smile on his face said enough, and Harry felt his heart fill.

###

 

_The jewellery store was brightly lit as Harry shuffled inside. A woman behind the counter smiled at him and he nodded before hurrying towards the rings section._

_“Can I help you at all sir?” The same woman asked, and Harry shrugged._

_“Are you looking for someone in particular?”_

_“Course I am.”_

_She smiled indulgently. “For what purpose? A commitment, proposal, or chastity promise?”_

_“Proposal. Marriage.”_

_“I knew I could get you to fess up to it. Now tell me what she’s like.”_

_Harry stared at her; she was muggle so he wasn’t sure how she’d feel about gays. “In what way?”_

_“Well, what are her hands like?”_

_“Large palms, pale skin, long, slender fingers.”_

_The lady frowned at the description of the palms, but refrained from commenting. “And what does she do for a job?”_

_“He’s a lawyer.”_

_“Oh,” and for a moment she looked shocked, but then she smiled broadly. “No need for you to be embarrassed, or hide. Is he a gold or a silver?”_

_“Silver, for sure.”_

_“Then let me know what you think of these options.” She pulled out a tray of silver rings; some were heavy, patterned, and very masculine, and would look ridiculous on Draco’s hand, and some were just plain bands that would be too delicate. It wasn’t until he got to the end that he found the ring. That was it. A silver band, about six milimetres thick, plain and strong, dignified, but not overstated._

_He picked it up and said to the lady, “This one.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Yes.”_

###

 

As the Ministry wasn’t far from the Leaky Cauldron, Draco offered to walk Harry there before heading back to Grimmauld Place. Harry wasn’t expecting most of the DMLE to be outside; a small group of Aurors was standing nearer to them than the rest.

“What’s going on?”

“Some sort of explosion in our offices. We had to evacuate and the floor is sealed off for the moment,” Dawlish said, before turning back to his conversation with Robards. The latter stared at Draco, turning his face away when the blond sneered at him.

“Draco,” Harry warned.

“What?” He asked innocently.

“You don’t fool me.”

With a grin, Draco’s eyes slid to the left of Harry’s head before he moved closer and captured Harry’s lips in a fierce kiss. Harry let out a soft moan into Draco’s mouth and held his hip with one hand, the other resting on swell of his belly. They broke apart to Harry’s colleagues’ wolf whistles. Harry turned sheepishly and caught sight of Ron’s angry face, and he knew that Draco had kissed him after seeing Ron.

“Draco,” Harry said again. “That was uncalled for.”

“Was it?”

“Yeah, it was,” Ron said, interrupting their conversation. “You only did that to make it seem like he wants you. He’s only with you out of duty to that spawn, Ferret. Harry wouldn’t care about your bastard child if you had told him after he’d married Ginny.” Ron spat at Draco’s feet and Harry was shocked by the vitriol coming from his oldest friend’s mouth.

“That’s not true,” he said to Ron firmly before turning to Draco and saying softly, “That’s not true. I would have married you.”

Draco smirked and pressed a calculating kiss to his lips. “Course you would have,” he said sardonically. “See you at home,” he said and left, nodding to Harry’s co-workers. He kept his head high when friends of the Weasleys in the crowd hissed at him.

Harry watched him go with a frown. Draco’s voice had been toneless and he had kissed Harry passionately despite keeping his distance that morning. When he got home from work they would need to talk.

###

 

_The Burrow was noisy; it always was on Sundays when the whole family came together. Harry sighed and made his way outside, not really wanting to share in their exuberance. It had been a month since he’d walked away from Draco, so sure he had done the right thing._

_Now, he didn’t know if he had or not. He missed Draco’s sarcasm and his kisses, he missed holding him in the night and the way he would stick his cold feet under Draco’s in the early hours of the morning, only to have him roll over and smother Harry with his body._

_The scent of flowers alerted him to Ginny’s presence. “You okay, Harry?”_

_“Yeah,” he said melancholically. The Weasleys knew that he was seeing Draco, but they didn’t know how serious it was. Or had been. When he’d told them that he had ended it, there had been an overwhelming sense of relief from them._

_Glancing at Ginny from the corner of his eye, Harry half smiled. She was, in a way, a better friend than Ron and Hermione. They hadn’t been through as much, not as intense or as emotional as what he, Ron, and Hermione had been through, but he and Ginny had had their fair share of adventures._

_He sighed. She would be a brilliant companion as they got on well and didn’t need to talk to fill the silence. She slid her hand into his and Harry, feeling her companionship and drawing from her strength, asked, “Marry me.”_

_“Harry-”_

_“I’m serious. I want a wife and kids and we’d be good together. We were once before.”_

_“When we were teenagers.”_

_“You’re not saying no.”_

_“No, I’m not.” Ginny smiled shyly at him and Harry felt sick, but he’d asked and she had accepted._

###

 

When Harry got home, Draco was waiting for him, arms folded across his chest as if he were ready for the fight.

“Why did you do that? Kiss me like that in front of Ron.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t like it.”

“Damn it, Draco! You did that on purpose, to cause a scene and make him angry. You deliberately provoked him.”

“And to what end?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. “You claiming, for his benefit, that you would have married me.” The disbelief in his voice infuriated Harry and he growled low in his throat before storming from the room. He raced upstairs and threw his socks from the drawer so he could pull out the black box at the back. Opening it, he checked that the ring was still inside before thundering back down the stairs.

As he entered the living room, Harry brandished the box and said “Here” to an empty room. Draco had left. Harry raced to the window and looked out of it just in time to see Draco’s head disappear around the corner.

Rushing from the house, Harry shouted after Draco, hurrying after him until he caught a hold of Draco’s elbow and spun him around so they faced each other. “What do you want?”

“I want to prove to you that I was telling the truth.” Harry pushed the box into Draco’s hand and watched as he looked down at it. “Open it.”

When Draco did, he reached out with a finger and brushed it over the metal.

“You know when I told you that I had to go to Azkaban to question a criminal? I lied.”

“You were in a terrible state when you got back, surely-”

“No, I did go to Azkaban, but I didn’t talk to a criminal. I went to see your father. I asked him for permission to marry you.”

Draco’s eyes were bright and he whispered, “He said no, didn’t he?”

Nodding, Harry said bitterly, “With relish.” He sighed, “You wanted more, I couldn’t give it to you because of him. Then, then I gave up, gave you up.”

“He’s dead now.”

“Yeah.” Harry shrugged uncomfortably.

“Yes.”

Frowning, Harry didn’t understand until Draco slipped the ring from the box and put it on his finger. It fit perfectly, and he looked Harry in the eyes and said, again, “Yes.”

Harry laughed loudly and grinned, picking Draco up in a ferocious hug. “I love you,” he said seriously. “l’ve made so many cock-ups and lost everything because of two terrible decisions, but I love you, Draco. I never stopped.”

“Nor I.” Draco leant into Harry’s embrace, resting his face against Harry’s neck, and Harry pretended he didn’t feel the wetness from Draco’s tears.

###

 

Draco watched through the window as Harry made his way through the square and into Grimmauld Place. He listened to the front door shut and Harry’s heavy steps as he came upstairs. Draco smiled before Harry’s arms wrapped around his waist and lips pressed to his neck.

“How was work?”

“Boring. Couldn’t wait to get home to you.” Harry nuzzled the hair on Draco’s neck before sucking on the skin he found there. “Missed you.”

“You’ve been gone half a day.”

“Yeah, but I’ve spent the past month with you. It was difficult being away from you.”

With a grin, Draco turned around and pushed his hips forward. “Was it hard?”

“Mmm, very hard.” Harry ground his cock into Draco’s and they rocked together, mouths seeking each other out, and they kissed desperately, knowing that time was limited.

A loud cry wrenched the air and Harry gripped Draco’s hips, “Please, I’m so close.” Draco pressed harder against Harry and they came quickly within moments of each other. Draco sank back against the window, trying to catch his breath.

“We need to-”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, and waved his wand to cast a gentle cleaning charm before taking Draco’s hand. “How was your morning?”

“It was good. I got mashed potato in my hair, but Pansy kindly washed it off in the bath after deciding that Daddy was, obviously, too dry.”

With a grin, Harry stepped into Pansy’s room and picked her up from her cot. “How’s my little flower today? Did you look after Daddy for Papa? You did, I’m so pleased,” Harry said as Pansy gurgled happily at him.

Draco was watching them from the doorway, a smile playing at the edge of his mouth, Harry felt his heart ache with happiness as he pressed a kiss to Pansy’s fine dark hair and breathed in her scent.

“Come on, lunch won’t be long, and then you should get back to work.”

Sheepishly, Harry grinned at his husband and carried their daughter downstairs. “Ron spoke to me today. He said he was sorry for how he treated me. Said that he was wrong. I told him that he was, but I wasn’t the only person he should apologise to.”

“I think I’ll be waiting for the apology for a while.”

“If by ‘a while’ you mean Sunday.”

Draco froze. “Sunday?”

“We’re going to the Burrow. Please, Draco. I know you and Molly get on, and you like Arthur. Ginny won’t be there; she’s off with the Harpies.”

“Well I suppose. I mean you did come with me to see my parents last weekend,” Draco said lightly, even though last weekend he had been a mess at his parents’ graves.

“Yes, I think your father is beginning to like me. He didn’t say one bad thing about me.”

With a soft chuckle, Draco leaned in and kissed Harry. “Yes.”

Harry set Pansy in her high chair and watched Draco dish up their lunch. For the first time in his life he was happy, and he didn’t have to pretend anymore.


End file.
